


Daybreak: FFXV

by MeredithMary



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, Post-Canon, mutiple povs, ship free zone, side characters are now main characters!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-21
Updated: 2016-12-21
Packaged: 2018-09-10 23:53:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8944411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeredithMary/pseuds/MeredithMary
Summary: This is a story about rebuilding. 
This is a story about how Iris, along with Aranea, Cindey and Talcott, build a new world out of the ashes of the old.





	

It was the still of night. It always was. The world was cold, and had been for 10 years.

Iris's senses were keener now, her eyes had adjusted to the dark, her ears picked up more than they ever had before, she could feel unseen danger on her skin.

This time it was the smell that had given them away. Mud, sweat and the slight sting of patchouli. Goblins. She turned on her heel, sword in hand, and cleaved all three of them in two. As the six goblin pieces fizzled out of existence, Iris lunged out of the way of another pack as they leapt out of the ground, trying to grab at her ankles. She swiftly dispatched them. She just wanted to get back to Lestallum as fast as she could, but her chocobo was timid and had bolted at the sight of the last goblin pack and hadn't come back at her whistle.

She saw Lestallum in the distance. The only light between her torch and the city were a string of roadside lights, the hunters' only means of navigating the blackness. Looking over from Lestallum towards Duscae, the world was nothing but a mess of string lights thrown across the landscape. You couldn't see what they connected, and there was no-one there to connect with either. Couldn't see the rivers they crossed or the valleys they skirted around. They were almost meaningless. But in this new world they had taken on new meaning. Everything that could be seen had meaning. More so than money, food and lighting were the currency.

She put one foot in front of the other, thinking of dinner - meat and potato stew. But while there were tubers that could grow without light, they were small hard and bitter, and the dried cubes of garula were only edible once they had been boiled in the broth for several hours. Iggy was always able to make it appetising, but he'd been away from town for a few days, so the only seasoning would likely be gritty rock salt.

All the hairs on the left side of her body stood on end. This feeling of warmth had become so rare, feeling it out here was disconcerting. She turned, her eyes stung, her world was drowned out in orange.

A fire. It must be.

She tried to focus, willing her eyes to adjust. She needed to see where it was, see the danger, see the culprit.

What she saw was the Rock of Ravatogh, standing proud and clear against a rising glow of yellow amber.

She fell to her knees and cried.

The orange faded into pale blue, dark clouds that had yet to be lit up silhouetted against it.

 

* * *

 

 

Cindy emerged out of the store cupboard carrying a large wooden crate. One by one the hunters turned away from the spectacle, intrigued by the box.

Feeling sweat starting to pool on her skin, she flung of her puffer jacket. And the fleece jacket she always wore underneath it was ditched too. She couldn't remember the last time she had been outside in just a T-shirt.

There were a few stragglers who still couldn't tear their eyes away from the rising sun.

"Gather round y'all." She started pulling out the nails with a hammer from her tool belt. "That means you too, Dave."

He shuffled to the back of the gathered group.

Safe in the knowledge that she had everyone's attention, she removed the top of the box with a flourish. The sight of twelve bottles of whiskey was met with a raucous cheer.

"Paw paw said to hide this until this day came, knew it would one day - wait don't drink this all now, we have to save at least one for paw paw -"

The sun moved further and further across the sky, and the hunters at hammerhead felt the warmest and the happiest they had in a while.

They drove to Longwythe, just to climb to the top to take in the view, taking a couple of bottles with them. They lay down on the rocks, already warm to the touch, and watched a new day dawning.

 

* * *

 

 

Aranea had a good view from her airship. The rising sun showed the curvature of Eos, and she could see the light spilling out over the land. A very different land from the last time it had been seen. Never had the damage been more apparent.

She hurried to his cabin.

"Castor," she said, busting through the door. "Cas. You're going to want to see this."

"I'm sleeping," he protested, rolling over in his sheets.

"I mean it. You're going to regret it if you don't."

He ignored her. She scooped her seven-year old son up into her arms and carried him to the open loading bay.

"You know what us grownups talk about sometimes."

She stepped forward, allowing the sun to light up her son's face.

"This is it Cas. This is day."

As she watched him blinking and squinting, pupils dilating, she considered the situation.

This sun was truly shining on a new world. Different from a decade ago, but just as different from yesterday.

Perhaps it was time for strategic shift in business operations.

Construction was probably due a boom.

 

* * *

 

 

Talcott was parked just outside the city gates, laid across the bonnet of his van, soaking up the heat. The sun was high enough in the sky to justify pulling the rim of his hat over his eyes. The sun reflected off the glass and marble of the city just added to brightness of the sun on the pale sand. But it was a good problem to have.

He knew they had been successful. That much was obvious. But he did start to wonder when they would get back.

It was true they had never asked him explicitly to wait there for them to take them back to Hammerhead, but he thought it was implied. So he'd wait a little longer.

He heard the crunch of footsteps on the gravel and slid off the bonnet to greet them.

Three of them.

He had anticipated this outcome, even if he hadn't accepted it. He hadn't been told of any plan, but he had picked up a vibe while he was driving. Dark and heavy and almost thick enough to taste.

Gladio was the first to speak.

"Talcott. I didn't think you'd still be waiting."

Ignis apologised. "Sorry to make you wait so long. We . . . Needed a moment."

Prompto looked like he was in no state to speak, eyes red, face and hands quivering.

"Its . . . I understand."

The three of them responded with a sombre nod.

"So . . . Back to Hammerhead?"

 

* * *

 

 

By the time Iris arrived in Lestallum they were dancing in the streets. Seldom used instruments were pulled out from the backs of cabinets to join in the exuberant cacophony. In parts and places people were joining in on familiar songs, some people playing their own favourites solo, some making it up they went along. It was joyous.

While walking to her apartment she was pulled into a group of children, dancing in a circle, bemused but excited and sweating profusely. When she had their leave, she made her way to her room, not switching on the lights but tearing down the insulation that was covering her window.

The city would be holding a council meeting soon, as would the hunters, and she'd be damned if she didn't arrive to both with a clear plan of action.

She sat down at her desk with the map of the area spread out across it and a notebook. She had to go out there and truly take stock of the situation, come up with a priorities list and make a _lot_ of calls.

She had to rebuild.

**Author's Note:**

> Tagged as canon compliant. This is not 100% true. It is an AU where everything is the same apart from Prompto never grew that goatee. It will not be brought up in the text or be plot relevant, but I wanted you to know anyway.


End file.
